The present invention relates generally to shaft mountings for gearboxes and the like, and more particularly to a novel mounting and demounting system and related method for a speed reducer or screw conveyor drive.
The present invention is embodied herein as a speed reducer or the like that is mounted on and supported by the end of a driven shaft, particularly for use as a screw conveyor drive. Screw conveyors or augers are used extensively in the grain handling industry to move grain from one location to another. The screw conveyor drive functions to reduce speed, multiply torque, and drive the screw or auger. It also functions to accept the thrust load imposed as the grain or material is being pushed along a trough by the auger. Screw conveyors are also used to move aggregates, chemicals, food, minerals, wood products, waste products and other materials.
A number of different securing mechanisms have been used in the past to secure speed reducers to a shaft to be driven. Often, the output shaft extends through a bore in the reducer and is secured in the reducer by one or more set screws. Because of the required space between the shaft and the bore in this type arrangement, the shaft cannot be mounted flush in the bore, and the shaft tends to rotate non-concentrically (also referred to as "orbiting") and excessive wear and/or premature shaft fatigue may be generated. In another arrangement, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,652, whose disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference, twin tapered bushings have been utilized to receive and secure a shaft in a speed reducer. This arrangement eliminates many of the problems inherent in the above-discussed system for mounting a shaft within a speed reducer. While such arrangement is effective for its intended purposes, it does utilize multiple bushings It also does not provide a system for demounting the shaft from the reducer, nor is the twin tapered bushing system as effective in transmitting the thrust load created in a screw conveyor.